BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

with a nature such as we have [with feelings, a ections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual] (verses 16-18). Those verses point to Elijah as our example. So, let's think about him for a moment. What kind of power was delivered through his life? Well, let's see… Elijah prayed, and it didn't rain for three years. During those three years, the ravens fed him by the brook Cherith. When the brook dried up and the ravens stopped coming, a widow fed him from a jar of meal that never ran out. When the widow's son died, Elijah raised him from the dead. After that, Elijah called down fi re from heaven and killed 450 prophets of Baal. Then he prayed for the rains to return, and when it began to rain, even in the mud he outran the king's chariots. The greatest thing of all, however, was that Elijah learned to recognize the still, small voice of the Lord—a voice that was small, not because it lacked power but because it was quiet and subtle. The Lord didn't speak quietly to Elijah because He wanted to make Himself hard to hear. He did it to train Elijah to be sensitive to Him. He wanted Elijah to learn to respond to even His slightest whisper. Psalm 32:9 says, "Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you" (New King James Version). Have you ever heard of a horse that is trained to neck-rein? A neck-reined horse is a horse that's so responsive to a rider's direction that you don't have to pull on the bit in his mouth to turn him. You just lay the rein on the side of his neck in the direction you want him to go, or lean a little this way or that way, and the horse will respond. That's how we want to be with the Holy Spirit. We want to be sensitive and responsive to His slightest touch. One way we cultivate such sensitivity is by learning from the Word how to distinguish between the Holy Spirit's leadings and the impulses of our fl esh. The more we're able to do that, the more we'll be able to pray like Elijah. Describing Elijah's prayer life, Sister Lynne said that "Elijah, through prayer, projected God onto a situation to stop things and to start things. One aspect of prayer is to release God out of your own spirit's deposit. The power residing in us is released through prayer. To not pray locks up this power." How much of God's power do you, as a believer, have inside your spirit? According to Ephesians 1:19-21 you have within you: …the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power…as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places], far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come (Amplifi ed Bible, Classic Edition). Now that's power! It's God's own power. It's Him. It's up to you, though, to connect with that power and release it through prayer. If you don't pray, the power remains locked up. If you do pray but you don't pray the right prayer the right way, the power can't do what it's designed to do. Even natural power needs to be rightly regulated and directed. We see this with electricity. For example, my electrician will not use an aluminum ladder. He knows that when working with electrical power, that's not a safe thing to do. There are safe ways, however, to channel electricity that provide the right supply of power and direct it exactly where is needed. That's a wonderful thing. If you aren't familiar with the laws of electricity though, or you misapply them, it's much less wonderful. You don't eat toast, you become toast. (I'm not an electrical expert but I'm smart enough to know that!) 2 2 : B V O V i Terri Copeland Pearsons is Chief Visionary Of cer of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and president of Kenneth Copeland Bible College. The eldest daughter of Kenneth Copeland, along with her husband George Pearsons she is also senior pastor of Eagle Mountain International Church at KCM in Fort Worth. THE LORD DIDN'T SPEAK QUIETLY TO ELIJAH BECAUSE HE WANTED TO MAKE HIMSELF HARD TO HEAR. HE DID IT TO TRAIN ELIJAH TO BE SENSITIVE TO HIM. Watch EMIC services with Pastors George & Terri on C H A N N E L with Pastors George & Terri on C H A N N E L Live services: Sun. 11 a.m. | Wed. 8 p.m. Replays: Sun. 10:30 p.m. & Sat. 2 a.m. Wed. midnight ET Fort Worth. Watch

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